An Epicureans Delight

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend who lives in the western Chicago suburbs. As we do every year at this time, we conversed about our favorite baseball team; The Chicago Cubs. Basically, we have the same conversation every late February; just the names of the players are changed. We both tend to over analyze the team and we are both hopeless optimists.

The highlight of our conversation was not concerning the Cubs, but instead the Chicago Hot Dog. He had gone to one of our favorite Hog Dog emporiums for lunch on Sunday. He was appalled by the behavior of the customer in front of him. The man asked for Catsup on his hot dog. The young employee, behind the counter, told the man that they didn’t have Catsup. The man then became indignant and told the employee where he could put the hot dog. Nasty words were exchanged.

My friend, who is well known for his lack of tolerance, jumped in and said “get the “xxxx” out of here and go back to Detroit". I guess that they serve hot dogs with Catsup in Detroit.

If you have never had a Chicago Hot Dog, you have no idea what I am writing about.

The classic Chicago Hot Dog uses a Vienna Beef Frank (2oz) which is steamed and served on a poppy seed bun which is also steamed. The condiments are mustard, a bright green pickle relish (picklelilly), chopped onions, tomato wedges, a slice of dill pickle or cucumber, a dash of celery salt and optional hot (Sport) peppers. The dog is usually served with French Fries. It’s wrapped in white paper (fries included) and served in a brown bag.

Please note that there is no mention of Catsup, Chili or sauerkraut!

The better Hot Dog Emporiums do not keep Catsup on the premises.

Last night I was drooling while thinking about a Chicago Hot Dog. We have a Chicago style food carry-out less than a mile away. I sent my daughter to fetch one. It was good, but just not the same as eating one in Chicago.

The Beach Bum